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    EYE ON INDIA                                                       FEBRUARY 13, 2026       |  The Indian Eye                    8

                                                  NATIONAL SECURITY

                                  Does Naravane Memoir

             Reference Puts Spotlight on Limits

                              of Parliamentary Debate?

            OUR BUREAU                                                                                            Parliament to function. “All Opposi-
                                                                                                                  tion parties are united that if the LoP
            New Delhi
                                                                                                                  is not allowed to speak, then there is
                  he  sharp  political  confronta-                                                                very little opportunity for the House
                  tion  in  Parliament  this  week,                                                               to run,” he said, noting that Oppo-
            Ttriggered  by  Congress  leader                                                                      sition  MPs  in  the  Rajya  Sabha  had
            Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to cite for-                                                                   staged a walkout over the issue.
            mer Army chief General M.M. Nar-                                                                          Ramesh  also  pointed  out  that
            avane’s  unpublished  memoir  on  the                                                                 parliamentary  disruptions  over  the
            2020  eastern  Ladakh  standoff,  has                                                                 Motion of Thanks were not unprec-
            brought  renewed  attention  to  the                                                                  edented, recalling that former Prime
            uneasy boundaries between national                                                                    Minister  Manmohan  Singh  was  un-
            security, parliamentary privilege and                                                                 able to reply to the motion in 2004
            political accountability.                                                                             after being prevented from speaking.
                The controversy began after the                                                                       As disruptions persisted, the Lok
            Leader of the Opposition in the Lok                                                                   Sabha passed the Motion of Thanks
            Sabha  referred  to  General  Nara-                                                                   to  the  President’s  Address  without
            vane’s  memoir  during  proceedings,                                                                  Prime  Minister  Modi  delivering  his
            prompting  strong  objections  from                                                                   customary reply in the Lower House.
            the ruling BJP. Government leaders                                                                    The Speaker adjourned proceedings
            argued that citing unpublished mate-                                                                  amid sustained sloganeering by Op-
            rial by a former Army chief violated                                                                  position members, despite the Prime
            House rules and risked demoralising   Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi during the ongoing Budget Session, at the Parliament premises,   Minister being present in Parliament.
            the armed forces, a position that led            in New Delhi on Thursday (ANI Photo/Rahul Singh)         Congress   leader   Priyanka
            to repeated disruptions and eventu-                                                                   Gandhi  Vadra  intensified  the  crit-
            ally prevented Gandhi from complet-  mains unpublished, and neither side   he  changed  ideology?”  Modi  said,   icism,  accusing  the  Prime  Minister
            ing his remarks.                  has publicly quoted from it in detail.   adding that such language reflected   of avoiding discussion. “There is no
                BJP leaders maintained that dis-  Yet  its  mention  has  assumed  out-  the  Congress’  political  decline.  The   discussion  because  the  government
            cussions involving the military must   sized  political  significance,  with  the   Prime Minister also alleged that the   doesn’t want discussion to happen,”
            adhere to strict conventions. Accord-  Opposition arguing that referencing   remark amounted to an insult to the   she told reporters, alleging that Modi
            ing to the ruling party, references to   the  perspective  of  a  former  Army   Sikh community.      was “hiding behind the Speaker.”
            an  unpublished  account  —  partic-  chief lends weight to its demand for   The  Congress  has  countered   The  government,  however,  re-
            ularly on an ongoing strategic issue   greater transparency, while the gov-  that the government is using unrelat-  jected the Opposition’s claims, with
            such as the India-China standoff —   ernment insists that such references   ed  controversies  to  divert  attention   sources asserting that the Speaker’s
            could set a precedent that blurs the   must be handled with restraint.  from the core issue of parliamenta-  decisions  were  guided  by  the  need
            line  between  legitimate  debate  and   The  standoff  over  the  memoir   ry debate. Congress MP Ujjwal Ra-  to  maintain  order  and  prevent  the
            politicisation of the armed forces.  quickly  widened  into  a  broader  po-  man Singh described the situation as   politicisation of sensitive national se-
                The  Congress,  however,  has   litical  clash.  While  replying  to  the   “shameful  for  democracy,”  arguing   curity issues.
            framed the objections as an attempt   Motion of Thanks on the President’s   that  preventing  the  Leader  of  the   With  both  sides  entrenched,  the
            to block scrutiny of the government’s   Address  in  the  Rajya  Sabha,  Prime   Opposition  from  speaking  under-  episode has highlighted a recurring ten-
            handling  of  the  Ladakh  crisis.  Re-  Minister Modi launched a sharp at-  mines parliamentary norms.  sion in Indian parliamentary practice:
            acting  to  the  developments,  Rahul   tack on the Congress, accusing it of   “It’s a shameful thing for democ-  how to balance open debate on strate-
            Gandhi accused Prime Minister Na-  arrogance and irresponsible conduct.   racy that the Leader of the Opposi-  gic and military matters with the need
            rendra  Modi  of  avoiding  difficult   Referring  to  Rahul  Gandhi  as  the   tion is not allowed to speak,” Singh   to  preserve  institutional  norms  and
            questions. “Just so much panic from   party’s  “Yuvraj,”  Modi  criticised  a   told ANI, alleging that “excuses are   avoid politicising the armed forces. As
            questions? Modi ji, so scared of the   separate  incident  in  which  Gandhi   being used as a pretext” to stop Gand-  the Naravane memoir remains unpub-
            truth, sought refuge in lies,” Gandhi   called BJP MP Ravneet Singh Bittu   hi  from  raising  substantive  issues.  lished,  the  immediate  dispute  is  less
            said in a post on X, without elaborat-  a “traitor” after he switched parties.  Congress  general  secretary  Jai-  about its contents than about the rules
            ing on the specific content he intend-  “This is not a small word. How   ram Ramesh warned that continued   governing how such material can be in-
            ed to cite from the memoir.       can  the  country  tolerate  a  citizen   restrictions on the Opposition’s right   voked — and who gets to define those
                The Naravane memoir itself re-  being  called  a  traitor  just  because   to speak would make it difficult for   limits — on the floor of Parliament.

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